Natural hazards · Tatum

Tatum, NM natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Tatum comes from wildfires, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is Tatum?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Tatum to be higher than in 95% of U.S. communities, mostly from wildfires and inland flooding.

Wildfire54%Inland flooding23%Drought10%Hail6%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Tatum faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Wildfire

54% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

23% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 76% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Drought

10% of expected damage

Recorded about 135 times a year in the area

Hail

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does Tatum flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Tatum.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Tatum isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Lea County.

Disasters that hit Tatum

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Lea County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Tatum itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into TatumDeclared for Lea County only

Lea County has had 5 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and severe storms.

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.

Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Tatum is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Tatum’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Tatum. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.